"Global insurance companies are struggling to get a grip on their flood exposure in Asia nearly a year after one of the world's costliest disasters hit Thailand, with executives fearing an even worse event looms in the region."

## Energy/resources ##Green power failure
"The Amonix solar manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas went belly-up last week, closing its 214,000-square-foot facility just a year after it opened and becoming the latest tax-subsidized alternative energy operation to go bust."

Fool me twice, shame on me: The oil industry repackages the fake abundance story (from the late 1990s)
"That was the industry's story right before a decade-long climb in oil prices that ended with an all-time high in 2008. Only the oil industry would now have the audacity once again to peddle a story that it has gotten wrong for more than a decade as if it were brand new. Enlisting the media and its army of paid consultants, the industry is once again telling the public that oil abundance is at hand. And, what is doubly audacious is that it is promoting this tale as oil prices hover at levels more than eight times the 1999 low. Clearly, the industry is counting on collective amnesia to shield it from ridicule."

## Got food? ##

Indian port congestion hits grain supply as prices spike
"Congestion at Indian ports is delaying corn and rice shipments to Asia and Africa, dealing a fresh blow to buyers stung by record-high global grain prices as a worsening US drought threatens to spark a shortage in food supply. Ships faced up to 25 days of waiting at ports on India's east coast, traders and port officials said on Friday, delaying cargoes to millers who are heavily relying on cheaper South Asian shipments amid tight US and South American supplies."Report: US has fewest cattle in at least 4 decades

## Environment/health ##Coca-Cola, PepsiCo can't ignore health issues
"Coca-Cola (KO -0.67%), PepsiCo (PEP -0.66%) and the rest of the carbonated beverage industry can't afford to ignore Thursday's call by health activists and some cities for the U.S. Surgeon General to conduct a comprehensive study on the health effects of soda, much like the landmark report on the dangers cigarette smoking decades ago."

## Japan ##Organizers getting fatigued from growing anti-nuke protests
"As crowds of anti-nuclear protesters near the Prime Minister's Official Residence reach as many as 90,000, the networks of small groups that have organized the Friday night demonstrations are becoming victims of their own success."